And it is the same when we grow older. We naturally seek the company of our dearest friends in times of trouble. And it adds greatly to our suffering if we cannot have those we love near us when we are in sorrow. But, in the history of our Saviour’s betrayal and desertion, we see how it was with him. In the midst of his great trouble, when the wrath of God, occasioned by our sins, was pressing heavily upon him, he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one of the little band of his own chosen followers. How much this must have added to his sorrow! And if the rest of his apostles had only stood by him faithfully, as they had promised to do, during that night of sorrow, it would have been some comfort to him. But they did not. As soon as they saw the traitor Judas deliver him into the hands of his enemies, we read these sad, and melancholy words, “_Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled!_” How hard this must have been for Jesus to bear! The cup of his sorrows was full before; _this_ must have made it overflow. He knew it was coming. For, not long before, he had told them that “the hour was coming, when they would be scattered, and _leave him alone_.” This shows how deeply he felt, and feared this loneliness. Seven hundred years before he came into our world, the prophet Isaiah represented him as saying—“I have trodden the wine-press _alone_,” chap. lxiii: 3. And this was what he was doing now. In the midst of the multitudes he came to save he was left—alone. There was not an earthly friend to stand by him—to speak a kind word to him—or to show him any sympathy in this time of his greatest sorrow. The only comfort left to him was the thought that his Father in heaven had not forgotten him. When he spoke of his disciples leaving him alone, he said, “_And yet, I am not alone, because the Father is with me._” St. John xvi: 32. Jesus never forgets how lonely he felt at this time; and he loves to come near and comfort us when we are left alone. We should always remember at such times how well able he is to help and comfort us. Here are some simple illustrations of the blessing which those find who look to Jesus in their loneliness. An aged Christian was carried to a consumptives’ hospital to die. He had no relation or friend to be near him except the nurse and the doctor. Yet he always seemed bright and happy. The doctor, in talking with him one day, asked him how it was that he could be so resigned and cheerful? His reply was—“When I am able to think, I think of Jesus; and when I am not able to think of him, _I know he is thinking of me_.” And this was just the way King David felt when he said, “I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” “Not Alone.” Little Bessie was sitting on the piazza. The nurse came in and found her there. “Ah! Bessie dear, all alone in the dark,” said the nurse, “and yet not afraid?”